I am writing to implore you to listen to suffering South Carolinians who have been placed in an impossible position and to act to protect them. On February 9, the Senate voted 28-15 to approve S. 150, the SC Compassionate Care Act. Some of the most conservative members of the Senate were among the “yes” votes. I urge you to join your colleagues in the Senate and pass this carefully crafted legislation expeditiously. Margaret Richardson (whose husband Scott Richardson served as a state senator) has explained how her devastating medical condition leaves her writhing in pain and has often made her a prisoner in her room. Eventually, she tried cannabis at a friend’s suggestion, and it provided life-changing relief from excruciating pain, allowing her to be an active grandma again. But our state’s laws force her to “creep around like a criminal.” Listen to Mrs. Richardson’s story here: www.youtube.com/watch?v=oieyifJItRY As a South Carolina lawmaker, you have the power to give Mrs. Richardson and other South Carolinians relief. It is cruel and heartless to brand her a criminal and force her to get her medicine from the unregulated and illicit market. That illicit market will continue to thrive in the absence of a well-regulated medical cannabis program. Patients in our great state do not want to break the law, but finding the choice between suffering and abiding state laws puts them in an untenable position. With your vote, you can show compassion and allow fellow citizens to have the freedom to make their own personal medical choices. Will you please support the S.C. Compassionate Care Act?

In 37 other states, including Alabama, Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Utah, seriously ill patients can use medical cannabis with their doctors’ approval. Why not here? It makes no sense that our doctors aren’t trusted to recommend medical cannabis and instead must prescribe far more dangerous medications. No one has died of a cannabis overdose, but more than 14,000 Americans die each year from prescription opiates. Why is South Carolina pushing patients and doctors to the far more harmful option? This compassionate bill passed the Senate in a nearly 2:1 vote that included several of the most conservative senators. Can I count on you to support the S.C. Compassionate Care Act to bring this medical freedom to South Carolina?

Sen. Tom Davis has been working on the S.C. Compassionate Care Act for more than seven years, seeking input and making revisions to address concerns. This is the most restrictive bill in the country. It does not allow smoking or cannabis in plant form, and cannabis would be dispensed from speciality pharmacies. Since his bill was first introduced, several other states — including Arkansas, Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Utah — have passed compassionate care laws. In the meantime, thousands of South Carolinians have needlessly suffered when cannabis could have brought them relief. Others uprooted and left their support networks to move to more compassionate states. Still others have died, sometimes sooner than they would have if they had cannabis to keep up their appetite as they battled cancer or tried to quell devastating seizures. I hope you agree it’s past time South Carolina provides relief to suffering patients. The S.C. Compassionate Care Act deserves your support.

South Carolina voters would pass medical cannabis legislation in a heartbeat if we were given the chance to do so. On February 9, the Senate voted 28-15 to pass this legislation and by a voice vote for final passage on February 10, 2022. A February 2021 Starboard Communications poll found 72% of South Carolina voters support allowing medical cannabis. But unlike about half of the states in the country, we have no voter initiative process and have to rely on our lawmakers to do what is right. When conservative states, such as Utah, Mississippi, and Alabama, have recently approved well-regulated medical cannabis programs, why must we continue to resist the will of the people in our state? Please work to pass the S.C. Compassionate Care Act in 2022. Patients battling serious medical conditions have already been dealt a tough hand. They should not be criminalized for using a medicine that works. South Carolina should not steer its suffering patients to highly addictive and often deadly opiates when a far safer natural remedy has been shown to be effective.

Thousands of South Carolinians live with untreated and undertreated chronic pain. Some pain patients turn to opiates, which pose a significant risk for addiction and death, along with serious side effects. Others use significant amounts of over-the-counter medicines long term, despite the risks of internal stomach bleeding, stroke, and heart, kidney, and liver problems. The news is filled every day with stories about the overdose crisis in our country. In many cases, people are having pain medications lowered or stopped even when they are still suffering from chronic pain. So many will live with this pain for the rest of their lives and seek relief from their agony from illegal narcotics fueling the overdose epidemic. When will this vicious cycle end? A far safer option — medical cannabis — is legal in 37 states, including several in the South. The National Academy of Sciences reviewed thousands of abstracts and studies and found there is “conclusive” or “substantial” evidence that medical cannabis helps chronic pain. Yet, our state continues to threaten suffering patients with jail. Due to our archaic laws, patients’ only source of cannabis is the illicit market, with all the risks that entails from hazardous pesticides and molds to the possibility of violence and muggings. Please end this madness. On February 9, the Senate voted 28-15 to pass the S.C. Compassionate Care Act. I urge you to work to pass this legislation this year in the House of Representatives.